This rifle is distinguished by the sparing but bold decoration of its stock, featuring engraved silver inlay and a mythological creature carved in the round.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Flintlock Rifle
Date:ca. 1800
Geography:Versailles
Culture:French, Versailles
Medium:Steel, gold, silver, wood (walnut)
Dimensions:L. 40 1/2 in. (102.9 cm); Cal. .60 in. (15.2 mm); Wt. 5 lb. 15 oz. (2693 g)
Classification:Firearms-Guns-Flintlock
Credit Line:The Collection of Giovanni P. Morosini, presented by his daughter Giulia, 1932
Accession Number:32.75.107
Signature: Signed on the lock: Boutet Directeur Artiste;
On the barrel in cartouche: Boutet Directeur Artiste, Manufacture à Versailles;
Near the breech, within a rectangle: BOUTET.
Marking: Hallmarks: (1) octagon containing cock with number 1 to the left (official assay mark -- poinçon de titre -- denoting first standard silver (0.95) for the period 1798-1809);
(2) oval containing number 88 separated by the head of an old man (excise mark -- poinçon de garantie -- used in Seine-Inférieure Département for large-sized work during the perod 1798-1809);
(3) lozenge containing initials JM separated by a pellet, five pointed star above, seven pellets below in form of a grape cluster (silversmith's mark, unidentified).
Marks: Lock (interior): B;
Barrel (top, marks within lozenges): BC LC NB (letters intertwined); (beneath): DB surrounded by wreath; B (near touchhole) BLY N° 1; N° 35; Pour Brouilly;
Triggerguard: Hallmarks 1 and 2; Brouilly; B;
Rear side-plate (inside, in script): Leon Fletcher; B;
Forward side-plate (inside): B;
Butt plate (inside): hallmarks 1,2 and 3; Brouilly; B;
Mermaid mount in front of triggerguard (inside): Brouilly; B;
Ram's head mount (inside): Brouilly; B;
Ramrod pipes (inside): each with respective assembly marks in form of notches 1, 11, 111;
Ex. coll.: Giovanni P. Morosini.Giovanni Pertinax Morosini, New York (until d. 1908; by descent to his daughter); Giulia Pertinax Morosini, New York (1908–d. 1932; her bequest to MMA).
Hagerstown, Md. Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. "Loan Exhibition of Medieval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 27–March 31, 1955, no. 101.
Newark. Newark Museum Association. "Loan Exhibition of Medieval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 15–September 15, 1955, no. 101.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Arts Under Napoleon," April 6–July 30, 1978, no. 141.
Seattle, Wash. Seattle Art Museum. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," March 11, 1982–June 6, 1982, no. 114.
Denver, Colo. Denver Art Museum. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," July 18–October 10, 1982, no. 114.
San Antonio, Tex. Witte Museum of the San Antonio Museum Association. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 13, 1982–February 5, 1983, no. 114.
Minneapolis, Minn. Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 24–July 31, 1983, no. 114.
San Francisco. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 5, 1983–January 28, 1984, no. 114.
Detroit, Mich. Detroit Institute of Arts. "The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 4–June 17, 1984, no. 114.
Grancsay, Stephen V., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. Loan Exhibition of Medieval and Renaissance Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Hagerstown, Md.: Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, February 27–March 31, 1955. pp. 27–28, no. 101, ill.
Graells, Eudaldo, and Stuart W. Pyhrr. "A Primer of Ripoll Gunlocks." Arms and Armor Annual I
Pyhrr, Stuart W. "Hidden Marks on Boutet Firearms." The Arms and Armor Annual (1973), pp. 266–274, fig. 10, ill.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Helmut Nickel, Stuart W. Pyhrr, Leonid Tarassuk, and American Federation of Arts. The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art: An Exhibition. New York: The Federation, 1982. pp. 164, 168, no. 114, ill.
Grancsay, Stephen V., and Stuart W. Pyhrr. Arms & Armor: Essays by Stephen V. Grancsay from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 1920–1964. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986. pp. 222–226; fig. 74.3.
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